Want to see just how serious your students are about winning, winsome evangelism? Ask them about the tailored testimony they’re prepared to share with family over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

While “getting your testimony down pat” – as well as near-memorizing a simple gospel explanation – is very useful, the ultimate goal isn’t to rattle anything off. But do your students fully realize that the goal IS to be able to tailor their “presentation” to the unique individual or audience?

I’m so thankful for my long-ago Evangelism Explosion training, because I can still remind myself that Grace-Man-God-Christ-Faith is a helpful outline that hits the high points. But woe to me if my only means of sharing the gospel is to start where that outline starts, end where it ends, and hit every single point in order, with no diversion and no breath.

“To those needing the Bridge Illustration, I gave the Bridge Illustration; to those needing Soularium cards, I presented Soularium; to those needing the Romans Road, I walked the Romans Road; to those needing Inductive Study through Mark, I…” and so on.

But I digress.

Do your students get this idea? With all the rote memorization they already do for school, you might find some students have put faith-sharing and testimony-sharing into the same category. But loving friends and family (and strangers) requires “knowing our lines well” just so we can deviate, hitting all the vital points but “with gentleness and respect” – both qualities that certainly require audience consideration in our method.

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Welcome to Exploring College Ministry

After ministering to college students for 8 years, I've spent the last 6 years trying to help push our whole field forward. This meant, among other things, a yearlong road trip, an e-book (Reaching the Campus Tribes), exploring 250+ campuses, consulting, writing, speaking, and more. I love any opportunity to serve college ministers or others who want to reach college students better. To learn more, explore the header links or the tools below.